Ballet Hispanico Performs at Inauguration Celebration at Kennedy Center

Ballet Hispanico, recognized as the premier Latino dance institution in the United States, will join other entertainers to headline "In Performance at the Kennedy Center," an event honoring the President Barack Obama's inauguration and Latino arts and culture.  

 Actress Eva Longoria is set to host the 7 p.m. event on Sunday, Jan. 20. 

Ballet Hispanico will perform an excerpt from artistic director Eduardo Vilaro's Cuban-inspired Danzón, set to music by Latin Jazz great Paquito D'Rivera.  In addition, 20 students from the Ballet Hispanico School of Dance will perform in a piece choreographed for the finale of the evening.

"The Latino community is an integral facet of America's make-up, and our country's cultural landscape must reflect our constantly growing and shifting populations," said Eduardo Vilaro, artistic director of Ballet Hispanico. "We are thrilled to appear alongside such accomplished Latinos as we celebrate this country's present and future."

Actress Eva Longoria, San Antonio philanthropist and business leader Henry R. Munoz III and San Juan attorney and activist Andres W. Lopez, in partnership with the nation's leading Latino organizations, announced that Raul Esparza, Jose Feliciano, Juan Diego Florez, Melanie Griffith, George Lopez, Mario Lopez, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera, Robert Rodriguez, Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, Ballet Hispanico, Coral Contigas, Coro de Ninos de San Juan, the Esperanza Azteca Youth Orchestra, the Pan American Symphony Orchestra and other entertainers will participate in "In Performance at the Kennedy Center."

Longoria, Munoz and Andres Lopez are the executive producers of the event.  Tickets are available for purchase by the general public online and at the Kennedy Center box office.

"In Performance" is part of Latino Inaugural 2013 - a three-day series of lectures, symposia and cultural gatherings that will give Latinos from all backgrounds, national origins, regions of the country and political parties the chance to reflect on the issues most important to them and determine how best to develop an agenda that betters the community and strengthens the country as a whole.

Tickets for the live Opera House performance start at $300 and include entry to a post-performance reception. Tickets for the Eisenhower Theater simulcast start at $150 and also include entry to the reception. 

Celebrating 42 years of dance and culture, Ballet Hispanico is recognized as the nation's premier Latino dance organization. The company boasts a rich and diverse repertory of more than 100 works by top choreographers and emerging artists. The works expand on founder Tina Ramirez's legacy of exploring the diversity of Latino culture through a fusion of classical, Latin, and contemporary dance powered by theatricality and passion. 

The Company has performed for an audience of nearly 3 million, throughout 11 countries, on 3 continents.